Arctic Blast

Central Park is covered with snow in this view from the Mandarin Oriental New York hotel in the new Time Warner Center looking east along Central Park South from Columbus Circle Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004. With temperatures hovering around nine degrees, about five inches of snow had been measured in Central Park by 9 a.m.

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People wait in frigid temperatures at a bus stop on New York's Upper West Side Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004. A winter storm blasted New York with single-digit temperatures and about 5 inches of snow Thursday morning, and the National Weather Service expects Thursday night to get "dangerously cold."

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The moisture in Jenny Martin's breath freezes on her scarf as she walks, bundled against 18-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, to catch the bus to work in Burlington, Vt., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004.

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Mailman Gerry Kuptz trudges through the 8 inches of snow back to his mail truck after delivering mail to people in Fenton, Mich., Wednesday afternoon Jan. 14, 2004. Kuptz said he didn't mind delivering mail through the snowstorm.

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A horse, with a frosted muzzle, and its driver brave the sub-zero air temperature on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004, at the Saratoga Harness Racing track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The National Weather Service says bitter, below-zero temperatures will warm by the weekend.

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Tyler Hughes, 15, of Fenton, Mich., laughs after he wiped out while sledding behind St. John School Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. Hughes, a 10th-grader at Fenton High School, got out of school early due to the 8-inch snow fall.

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Using a snowblower, Ken Stoney removes the snow from the sidewalk in the front of his Midland, Mich., home Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. Nearly 8 inches of the white stuff blanketed Midland County Wednesday, bringing residents out in full force with their shovels and blowers.

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Vincent Riley, a maintenance technician for The Powers Building in downtown Rochester, N.Y., shovels the sidewalk on State Street Thursday morning, Jan 15, 2004. Riley worked in the 4-degree weather but wind chills made it feel more like 20 degrees below. Schools were closed around the Rochester region because of the wind-chill temperatures.

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Chris Tilden, left, and Brad Barrett of New Jersey walk from their downtown Rochester, N.Y., hotel on Main Street to the Rochester City School building, battling the 4 degree Fahrenheit weather on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004.

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Smoke rises from chimneys on a hillside in Montpelier, Vt., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004. Forecasters say this week's bitter cold is going to ease slightly Friday - giving New Englanders some relief from record daytime cold temperatures. The temperature didn't get above minus-eight in St. Johnsbury Wednesday - setting a record for the date.

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A commuter bundled up to the eyes against the zero-degree cold, hurries across Atlantic Avenue in Boston Thursday morning, Jan. 15, 2004.

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A pedestrian crosses Main Street and State Street in downtown Rochester, N.Y., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004, battling the 4-degree Fahrenheit weather. Wind-chills made it feel more like -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Schools were canceled across the region because of the wind-chills, which could reach -30.

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A man waits outside a bus stop in downtown Albany, N.Y., on Wednesday Jan. 14, 2004, where the air temperature was well below zero. Cold weather will remain in upstate New York for the next several days.

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A pair of ducks brave the cold as they swim in the Moira River as ice and mist float by in Belleville, Canada, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. The temperature with the wind chill was close to -30C.

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A man begs for money while keeping warm on a steam grate in downtown Philadelphia Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. An Arctic cold front has dropped temperatures in the area into the teens, with a new front Wednesday night expected to bring four to six inches of snow. A Code Blue alert, which puts additional police and outreach teams on the streets to help the homeless get shelter, was expected in the city.

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A hard and bitterly cold wind causes blowing snow and occasional whiteouts, making driving difficult in Hopewell, N.Y., and other parts of the Finger Lakes region Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2003. Temperatures are expected to remain in the single digits and even below zero for the next few days.

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Mike Aucter, 48, who lives at the Rescue Mission in Syracuse, N.Y., pauses along Salina Street near Clinton Square, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004. New Yorkers tried to stay warm Wednesday as most of the state plunged into a deep freeze, and forecasters offered no relief, warning the worst is yet to come.

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Debra Cochran cleans off her car with a broom during the snowfall on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004, in Midland, Mich. Cochran volunteered for a trip to the courthouse for her employer so she could be outside in the nearly eight inches of snow the area received.

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Students Vanessa Hernandez, left, Addey Massoud-Tastor, center,and Josh Mayer make their way from one class to the next at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004. Cold blowing squalls were cutting across campus at the time and made for tough walking, but the three huddled together to get through it.

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U.S. Postal Servive letter carrier David Bergeron performs his daily duties bundled up against the bitter in Concord, N.H., Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004.